A decoding device for decoding a bit stream including a plurality of packets is known. Each of the plurality of packets includes a header portion and a data portion. A picture start code indicating a leading position of an access unit is located at an arbitrary position in the data portion.
A skip reproduction operation and a freeze reproduction operation are known as special reproduction operations of video data and audio data. A skip reproduction operation is implemented by skipping at least one of a plurality of access units. A freeze reproduction operation is implemented by repeatedly reproducing at least one of the plurality of access units.
It is necessary to specify the leading position of the access unit for implementing the skip reproduction operation. For this purpose, the conventional decoding device is required to detect the picture start code included in the data portion of a packet by searching the data portion of the packet. However, searching the data portion of the packet is time-consuming. Therefore, it is difficult to perform the skip reproduction operation smoothly.
The conventional decoding device performs the freeze reproduction operation by accumulating the bit stream to a buffer memory first and then repeatedly reading specific data included in the bit stream which is accumulated in the buffer memory. Therefore, the conventional decoding device needs a large capacity buffer memory for display.
The present invention has objectives of: (1) providing a decoding device and a decoding method implementing a fast skip reproduction operation: and (2) providing a decoding device and a decoding method which eliminates the necessity of a buffer memory for display.